The Grand Prix of Flanders in Lommel, Belgium, lived up to its reputation of being the most demanding Grand Prix of the year. As predicted, it turned into a true battle of mental and physical strength, with excessive rain being a huge factor in the overall result.
In the opening race, Seewer used his trademark ability to launch out of the gate quicker than most and emerged from turn-one in second position. The Swiss sensation was quickly relegated to fourth after a frantic first lap but continued to pressure the front-runners. As the leaders, Jeffrey Herlings and Romain Febvre broke free from the pack; the heavens opened and saturated the already rough and unforgiving sand. Seewer lost one more position to the nine-time World Champion, Antonio Cairoli, due to the rain wrecking his goggles in the latter stages of the race but dug deep to finish fifth.
Watson got off to another brilliant start and looked comfortable in seventh before the heavy down-pour of rain spoiled his chances. With a lack of vision, after running out of tear-offs, the ‘919’ had to stop in the goggle lane for a fresh set of goggles. He quickly changed and immediately returned to speed but crashed while challenging the top-10 and eventually finished 12th.
Credit must be given to Glenn Coldenhoff, who, despite the challenging conditions, was relentless on his charge from dead last to ninth after stalling the bike off the gate.
The constant downpours caused the track to deteriorate much quicker than usual, which caused chaos for the riders as they are not used to racing in such brutal conditions.
In the second and final race of the weekend, all three riders were luckless on their mission. Coldenhoff got off to an incredible start but tangled with Herlings while clearing his vision and crashed. He eventually finished 13th.
Seewer and Watson tried to bounce back from their mediocre starts, but that was a task that proved difficult with brutal conditions and heavy sand forcing too many errors. Despite the challenge, both riders pushed hard to finish eighth and ninth, respectively.
After a testing day of racing, all three riders have shifted their focus to the next Grand Prix that will take place at the likable Zelta Zirgs circuit in Kegums, Latvia. The event will serve as the seventh round of the FIM Motocross World Championship and will be the fourth of four back-to-back Grands Prix.
